Flicker
by bethsdaryl
Summary: What if Beth and Daryl made it out of that funeral home together? What if she had never been taken from him? A canon-divergent story taking place starting towards the end of "Alone" when Beth and Daryl were last together. Things happen much differently as Grady and Terminus will not be plot points.
1. Seven Devils

**A/N:** This story contains extremely triggering content and you need to proceed with caution. I would recommend that the readers of this story are 18+ and not easily triggered by abuse (physical, sexual, emotional or substance related), assault, or extreme violence. Also, this story will cover part of Daryl's backstory and it will include a companion fic that is a prequel to The Walking Dead. Daryl's history is canon-divergent because it's theory based and based on his past abuse.

* * *

 _"Holy water cannot help you now_  
 _Thousand armies couldn't keep me out_  
 _I don't want your money_  
 _I don't want your crown_  
 _See I've come to burn your kingdom down"_

Seven Devils by Florence + The Machine

* * *

Upon hearing a noise outside followed by a loud whine from the white dog that had visited earlier, Daryl grabbed the jar of pickled pig's feet, and began to walk to the front door to see what was going on. "-Well, well, well it looks like we got ourselves some dinner!" A rugged looking man with gray hair and a matching goatee exclaimed proudly. Daryl stood behind the door silently, squinting his eyes in the darkness, as he watched the men gathering around the entrance to the house. As the man lifted up the now dead dog, Daryl furrowed his brow in anger and disgust, then glanced back over to Beth. Realizing these men would try to get inside the house. Beth got up and slowly walked over to Daryl.

"What's goin' on?" She asked quietly, hearing the men outside and Daryl immediately lifted a finger to his lips to tell her to hush. She nodded then backed up into the kitchen once more to grab her bag and stuff it with whatever they could take. A jar of peanut butter, the pigs feet, and some soda cans were the only things she could put inside the bag without weighing herself down. "We need to get outta here," she whispered, Daryl nodded as he picked up his bow and other supplies.

"Yeah, c'mon," Daryl began as he started to help her walk through the halls of the house. Just as he heard a loud crash upstairs then a loud bang coming from his right side - he knew he needed to do the unthinkable. Gently, he held onto Beth as he lead her downstairs to the embalming room.

"Damn, this is one hell of a nice place! I say we claim it!" Daryl could hear one husky voiced man say from the floor above as he entered the home. "What'd y'all think 'bout that?" The voice continued as Daryl and Beth found their way into the room to hide.

As his eyes locked on the coolers, Daryl's sapphire blue eyes locked on Beth's beautiful ocean blue hues and she shook her head. "Nuh-uh," Beth whispered in disagreement; she knew exactly what Daryl was thinking.

"We gotta." The hunter replied, opening one of the doors to put their stuff in before he opened one for Beth. "Get in," he added, hearing footsteps coming from down the hall. Beth panicked and climbed inside the cooler, her heart feeling as though it was going to beat right through her ribs, just as she climbed into the cooler to hide. As soon as the door was shut, Daryl climbed into the locker beside of Beth, and shut the door right as two of the strange men walked into the room.

Daryl knew it wasn't in his nature to just hide and hide his stuff when out numbered but he knew what kind of men he was dealing with. They were the same type of people that Merle ran with and they were not the kind of people you'd want to meet on the street. He knew exactly what they were capable of and he knew he had to hide or risk their lives. "Hey, Joe, you gotta see this shit!" One man called out, another man walked into the room and guffawed at the bodies of walkers that were displayed in funeral clothing. "Who in the hell does this kind of thing to biters?" He questioned, the other continued to laugh and it evoked a quiet chuckle out of the man that had been speaking.

Beth closed her eyes tightly as she held her hand over her mouth. Her heart sank as she listened to those men trashing the thought of someone doing so kind. It was a very sweet thing this person had done for those walkers and deep in her heart, it really hurt her to think people could be so heartless, and make fun of such a caring act. Daryl, on the other hand felt a twinge of guilt inside as he listened - he knew what he sounded like earlier. Now he couldn't help but to see himself as a total prick for what he had said to Beth; she was right, it was a kind but strangely beautiful act. "Some nutjob," the other man finally responded as he stopped laughing while pulling back sheets on the other walkers. "Let's see what we can find in here!" He continued, Beth and Daryl could hear the smirk in his voice.

Daryl moved to grip the knife he thought he had with him, but it was in the bag with the other weapons. "Ah, _shit_ ," The archer thought as he continued to lay there silently in the dark, cold locker. Beth slowly shifted her weight to keep her hip from cramping up but when she moved - her knee gently hit the side of the metal locker, and her eyes widened.

"Oh God," Beth whispered to herself, just as she heard footsteps approaching the cooler. The door opened, exposing Beth's blonde locks as she was pulled out of the locker. She began to fight back, struggling as she flailed about, while a dark haired man held onto her tightly to get her to stand.

"Claimed."


	2. Don't Dream It's Over

_"Hey now, hey now_  
 _Don't dream it's over_  
 _Hey now, hey now_  
 _When the world comes in_  
 _They come, they come_  
 _To build a wall between us_  
 _We know they won't win_

 _Don't let them win"_

Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House

* * *

Only seconds after the men left the room, Daryl got out of the locker, and grabbed his weapons from the locker next to him. He quietly crept up behind three men that seemed to be getting some sort of sick thrill out of watching Beth being assaulted. He didn't know how he was going to get out of this alive and safely with Beth. How would he take down seven men all on his own? Usually he had someone like Michonne, Rick, or Glenn backing him up. But not this time, this time he was completely on his own, and he had to act fast.

"What'd ya think you're doin', Boy?" a gruff voice spoke from behind Daryl as he stood in the doorway, ready to take Len and Joe down, before they could do anything to Beth. Daryl clinched his jaw and aimed his bow at the man's head but the larger man didn't even flinch. "You'd best drop that. It's claimed now," he continued, speaking quietly as he watched Daryl glance over his shoulder when he heard Beth scream for his help.

Daryl placed his bow on the ground and stepped back the moment he noticed there was a gun pointed at his head. He placed the bow against the wall next to him in the hall and raised his hands by his head to show them he wouldn't try anything stupid. "C'mon," the obese man commanded as he pulled him by the back of his shirt collar to follow him to another room. As the man opened the door to a supply closet and grabbed some rope, yet just as the bearded man began to tie him, Daryl broke free and grabbed his own gun. He pulled the handgun out from his waistband and held it to the other's head, firing once.

The shot from inside that room rang out loudly, however just as the men began to turn their attention to Daryl, another ran back in the house shouting about how someone had been taken by people in a black vehicle. "Tony's gone, Joe! He got hit and then they took him," a slender dirty blonde haired man exclaimed angrily. Joe zipped his pants up and took off with the rest of the group. Len followed directly behind Joe as they headed out into the night; Daryl then quickly made a move once it was safe for him to head into the halls. Tucking his gun away, he grabbed his bow from the hall, and put it over his shoulder.

He dreaded heading into that viewing room because he knew what awaited. Beth was laying there, passed out with a bruised up face and her lower body exposed. Crimson red blood dripped down her lower body as she continued to lie there, looking as if she was sleeping. Daryl's heart sank as he moved to lift her to put her clothes back on her before he scooped her up in his arms.

"I'll get you somewhere safe; don't you worry," he whispered, grunting quietly as he moved to stand with her in his arms. She was so much heavier than she looked with such a petite frame. As he carried her out into the night, he knew he needed to get her to a safe place, and he knew there were stops that needed to be made along the way. The first place on his mind was a pharmacy.

* * *

The next morning, Beth awoke to Daryl sleeping across from her inside of an unfamiliar house. From the inside, it looked like a nice cabin he had found for them, and it left Beth feeling confused. As she moved, a sharp pain ran along the lower half of her body, causing her to cry out in agony. Daryl jumped up, immediately feeling his veins begin to pump with a adrenaline, before he took a breath. She was awake; she was alive - that was all that mattered to the hunter. As Daryl stood up, he slowly approached Beth and she moved to slink back into the couch; her icy blue eyes widening as he got closer to her. "Don't touch me, Daryl," Beth stammered, her eyes quickly filling with tears. "Please. Don't." Beth added, swallowing hard as she began to feel her body shake with fear.

"Hey, I won't hurt ya. I jus wanted to hand ya this," Daryl spoke softly, handing her a pack of morning after pills. The last thing the poor girl needed was to fall pregnant after what she had experienced. "Take it real quick." Daryl continued, Beth looked confused for a moment before everything came flooding back to her. She remembered being pinned down by two strange men, hit, and held by her hair while they had their way with her. As she looked at the package in her hand, she began to sob quietly while she thought about what happened to her.

"I trusted you!" Beth shouted angrily through her tears as her eyes locked on the archer's. "Why did you let this happen to me? I needed you and you didn't help me at all," Beth added, breathing heavily as she continued to sob. She was terrified, there was nothing that could change that fact either as she continued to lay there. Daryl moved to sit back down across from Beth as he listened to her, his hands began to shake as he ran them through his greasy locks of dark brown hair. "Where the hell were you when I needed you? Hidin' like a little bitch in those lockers?" Beth continued, as she wiped her eyes from the tears that seemed to be rapidly falling along her soft tanned cheeks.

The hunter grunted as he looked away from Beth. "I ain't a bitch," Daryl muttered under his breath as he looked down at the hardwood floor. His hands began to grow cold as he sat there listening to Beth's cruel words. Sure, she was hurt both physically and emotionally, but to Daryl - he felt like what she was saying, was simply going too far.

"Well ya sure did act like one back there!" Beth retorted, furrowing her brow as she went from scared and sad to angry. Daryl looked up at her, his face turning a darkened shade of red from anger as the two locked eyes.

"You're not gonna talk to me like that, Beth!" Daryl exclaimed, he then stood up and paced the floor for a moment as he thought of what to say, while attempting to breathe. "You're not gonna come into my house and yell at me; I did what I could - we were out numbered," Daryl continued, only to realize exactly what he had said to her and he grew quiet. Beth fell silent as she looked around, her eyes taking in the scenery.

The place was rustic, small and quite cozy. It was what people would expect to camp in if they wanted to rent a house along the mountainside. While it certainly wasn't a luxury home, it was still nice, and not the kind of place Beth expected Daryl to live in. "Bullshit. This isn't your place," Beth remarked, crossing her bruised arms over her chest.

"Yeah, it is. I lived here before the world went all to hell," Daryl commented, he continued to watch as Beth took in the interior of the home. Her eyes happened to fall on a beautiful stone fireplace across the room, Daryl sighed as he waited for more commentary from Beth. However, she didn't have anything else to say.

"Why did you bring me here?" Beth asked, Daryl shrugged his shoulders as he got up to grab a can of soda from their bags. He opened it and moved to sit down while Beth grabbed the water bottle from the coffee table. She put the pill in her mouth then swallowed a mouth full of water.

"You thought I was a criminal. I ain't. I wanted to show you I'm not like the men that hurt you," Daryl stated simply, Beth bit her lip softly then winced as she realized it was cut from having been hit. "I wanted to give ya a reason to keep trustin' me, too." Daryl added, Beth nodded and wiped another tear away from her eye.

"Only if you tell me more about you. I barely know you," Beth agreed, Daryl locked eyes with her once more then he simply nodded his head. "I want to know who you really are. Clearly, you're not someone I assumed - or who you made yourself out to be."

"Okay, deal."


End file.
